The external sector should continue to do well, with merchandise exports further gaining on the back of smart recovery being witnessed in the US and other important economies. For April-November period of the current fiscal, exports have grown by 12 per cent.  Despite pressure on IT and ITES exports, the services exports too should remain robust  and the overall current account balance would  remain well within the manageable limits with rupee continuing to remain steady. The CAD may remain well below 2 per cent. 

Overall, the year 2018 would be a year of consolidation and corporate balance sheets should look much healthier than 2017, the AYAO said.  As for pick up in investment, the scenario should turn positive only in the third and fourth quarter of 2018-19, till then the current capacity surplus has to be absorbed and debts reduced.

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